Office Party
by General Katyusha
Summary: A little AU one-shot where Glynda finds an unexpected gift during her office's Christmas party.


It was Christmas Eve, and Glynda could only watch in mild irritation as her office co-workers sloshed about at varying levels of drunkenness. She calmly sipped her wine, standing towards the edge of the group and taking care to be at least five feet from everyone else. She sighed upon spotting the last bottle of wine, out of the twenty present, get emptied by Steve from accounting.

 _My only glass of wine it seems, while everyone else is about half a bottle down…and I am not touching that tequila that Jackie brought._

She secretly resented Ozpin for throwing this thing in the first place, and then not even showing up to the damn thing. Her only other co-workers that she could stand were busy regaling a group of drunk interns with stories ( _I swear Port already told them about the moose story…_ ) or was nursing one of the stalls in the men's bathroom ( _Coffee and tequila didn't go well for him_ ).

She was quite tempted to simply leave the party herself, but Ozpin had specifically asked her to stay back and make sure no one gets too rowdy. She took the responsibility, though bargaining a 15% raise helped soothe the migraine that she was now suffering through.

 _It's just like bloody university all over again._

Watching the crowd with relative disinterest, she saw that one of their newer members looked like she was being harassed by Mr. Winchester, another rather young member of the company. She still couldn't understand why Ozpin had decided to hire a bunch of kids fresh out of school, but she knew it was better than to ask questions: She never got answers anyway.

Noticing how he had the poor girl cornered, she set her wine down and moved over to the two, standing just a bit behind Cardin. Closer now, she could see that the poor girl that he was bothering was Ms. Politan. Glynda never actually talked to her all that much, but she had heard that Neo was a good worker, and that she had a very, very unique hair and eye colour.

"Come on sugar, I'm sure to give you a great time." Glynda had to suppress a gag at Cardin's attempts at flirting. Neo looked extremely uncomfortable, and she looked up to Glynda almost pleadingly.

Cardin didn't relent, "Come on, I know you're like mute or something, but I'm sure I could get you to scream."

That was the final straw for Glynda. She calmly placed her hand on his shoulder, finding that her height was coming in to an advantage finally, and squeezed rather forcefully. Cardin swiftly turned his head, a retort on his lips, but his sneer turned into a look of terror as he realised who he was talking to.

"Mr. Winchester, I should not have to remind you that our company has a no-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and discrimination. I should also not have to remind you that I am the head of human resources." Glynda spoke in a very calm tone, though the grip she had on Cardin's shoulder showed anything but.

Cardin nodded meekly, and Glynda smiled. "Ozpin will be seeing you in his office first thing on the 26th, Mr. Winchester. I would have another job interview ready."

"B-But-"

Glynda cut off his pitiful protest, "Excellent. Now, please remove yourself from the premise, or I will have security remove you instead."

She removed her hand from his shoulder, and Cardin swiftly made his way out of the building, mumbling under his breath. After watching him walk well away from the building, she turned to Neo, who was simply watching her with a look of awe.

"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Neo quickly shook her head, and Glynda felt a wave of strange relief wash over her. She drew it as simply being thankful that she wasn't going to have to file a report with the police as well as the company. She hated paperwork.

"Well, Miss Politan, I do hope this incident doesn't reflect negatively on our company's reputation, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the party."

Glynda nodded and turned to go back to nursing her wine, but just as she was about to leave, she felt a tug on her sleeve. Looking back, she saw that Neo was holding onto her sleeve, looking away shyly. Glynda figured it was simply because she still felt a little uncomfortable, but she felt an odd warmth deep within her. She chalked it up to the wine she had, even though it wasn't even a full cup.

"Do you wish for me to accompany you, Miss Politan?"

Neo nodded meekly, and Glynda couldn't help but smile at the sight. She took to the shorter woman's side, gently nudging her as she did.

"I don't think I've actually introduced myself to you before," Glynda said, holding a hand out to Neo, "I'm Glynda, head of HR and general enforcer for Ozpin."

Neo gently shook her hand, and after letting go she grabbed a small notepad from her back pocket and a pen, writing quickly on it. Glynda watched curiously, before Neo turned the notepad around for her to read.

 _My name is Neo. I work over in R &D. Do you know sign?_

 _Ah, that explains it,_ Glynda though, and she nodded. She had wondered why Ozpin made her take classes for learning sign, though she figured that it was Neo's hiring that made him decide that. She didn't complain, of course, because he paid for the classes and she got a 5% raise for taking the classes. Basically surrendering her vacation for the classes was a bit of a pain though.

Glynda began to sign, _Indeed I can, Miss Politan. As head of HR, it is part of my duties to accommodate all of our employees._

Neo grinned happily, and Glynda couldn't help but smile with her. She was glad that the majority of her co-workers were absolutely plastered, because that meant that she could get away with letting her usually guarded demeanour drop.

The two began to have their own little conversation in sign language, talking about different aspects of their lives. Glynda found out that Neo was twenty, single, and lived in a small apartment about two blocks away from the offices. She moved to Vale right after high school, and she got the job on Ozpin's suggestion. Glynda couldn't help but feel that something was suspicious about that, but she chose to not question it. Neo was rather nice to talk with.

Of course, Glynda shared about herself as well. Neo was visibly surprised when she mentioned that she was twenty-eight and single, but she refused to answer when Glynda asked why she looked so surprised. Glynda felt a bit embarrassed when she mentioned that her flat was right next to the office, though she couldn't really answer why. Neo giggled and told her that she was lucky to live so close, because it meant a shorter commute. Glynda couldn't argue with that.

Eventually, the two began to talk about their tastes in various topics, from music to food. Glynda found herself becoming more and more interested in the girl, and she wasn't sure if it was simply professional or if she wanted to become more of a friend with Neo.

As they spoke, the office slowly emptied out until it was just Neo and her, sharing jokes and stories off to the side of the room. Glynda didn't realise until she saw the janitor come into the room, picking up leftover bottles and clearing up trash. She was absolutely astonished that she had spent so much time speaking with Neo. Looking at her watch, she found that it was now 2200, which meant that they had been talking for about two hours.

Glynda frowned and signed to Neo what the time was, a bit disappointed that their talk would no doubt come to an end, and that they would most likely not speak again except in the terrible circumstance that she needed to see a representative from HR. R&D was located in the basement of the building, and she rarely had to go down there.

However, Neo merely smiled and signed, _Do you like dancing?_

Glynda was a bit confused at her question, but she simply nodded, though the only dancing she knew was slow dancing and the waltz. Her university's dances were rather high-strung affairs.

Neo grinned, and without warning she grabbed Glynda's hand and rushed out of the building, heading out of the building and down the street before Glynda could react. When she did realise what Neo was doing, Glynda found that she was more than fine with being dragged to wherever the shorter girl was taking her.

Within a short time, Glynda found that she was being brought into a nightclub, Neo keeping a hold of her hand as she weaved through the throng of dancing people. She didn't care much for the flaring lights or the deafening music, but she had to say that the atmosphere was most certainly…loose and free.

Finally, after bumping into more than her fair share of people (all of whom allowed Glynda to pass without provocation, after seeing who bumped into them), Glynda found herself sitting at the bar with Neo. Neo signalled the barkeep over, a tall man, even taller than Glynda, with a goatee and short hair. She simply held up two fingers, and the barkeep nodded, pulling out spirits and mixing them together.

 _They must know each other,_ Glynda thought. She watched as he added several extra ingredients to the two glasses on the table. It was also at this moment that Glynda realised Neo wasn't ordering for just herself.

She gently tapped Neo on the arm, and quickly signed, _Wait, we're drinking? I thought we were just going to dance!_

Neo merely covered her mouth in a silent giggle before signing back, _I figured you'd need a bit of liquid courage to get into the beat._

Before she could say more, Neo grabbed one of the drinks and put it in Glynda's hand, taking her own and drinking it. Glynda, more cautious, took a good look at her drink. It was a slight purple colour, and the smell was close to grape sorbet. She took a small sip, and was surprised to find that the taste matched the colour. Neo gave her an encouraging thumb's up, and Glynda downed the rest of her drink as well, setting the glass on the counter afterwards.

 _How much alcohol is in this, Neo?_ She signed, trying to mentally prepare herself for the effects. Neo silently giggled again.

 _Enough to get you drunk!_

Neo once again grabbed Glynda's hand and took her onto the dance floor, and upon finding a clearer area she let go and began to dance, moving and grooving to the beat of the music. Glynda, more used to a different style of music, took a little bit of time to get into the rhythm, but soon enough the alcohol began to take effect, and she began to blend in with the rest of the crowd, moving and shaking to the beat.

Glynda, still trying to keep some level of professionalism intact, danced a bit away from Neo as to not accidentally bump into the girl, though she did accidentally bump into other patrons in turn. She didn't know if it was the booze ( _Note: Get that cocktail recipe_ ) coursing through her veins, the beat of the music, some hidden wild side finally releasing itself, or simply this girl in front of her, but Glynda was having herself an absolute blast.

And judging from the way Neo was smiling, Glynda guessed that she was as well.

During the night, Neo ordered a few more of the strange purple drinks, and with each drink had, Glynda found herself dancing closer and closer to Neo. The rate of contact between the two slowly began to increase, from being non-existent to becoming much more than common. Still, Glynda didn't mind, and Neo didn't make any show of minding either way.

Eventually, the high-paced music abruptly stopped, and the DJ grabbed the mic, a blonde guy with an open shirt and a hefty set of abs. From the way a few girl's nearby swooned, Glynda figured that he was very much the lady's man.

"This is DJ Sunny Wu, and I wanna hear how much of a good time you guys are having tonight!"

A loud cheer came from the club, and Glynda looked over to see Neo silently cheering, clapping energetically. The sight brought a large grin to Glynda's face, and she joined Neo in clapping. The DJ grinned and held up his hands, silencing the crowd.

"Now, as you might know, each Christmas Eve we do a secret pull from this hat here-" the DJ pointed to a rather large, fuzzy hat that was held by a blue-haired guy with yellow-tinted goggles on, "and we select one random dance for the evening! Now, let's see what we have!"

The crowd hollered and cheered again as the DJ reached into the hat. After a few moments, he pulled out a scrap of paper, and read it. His grin got even wider, and he tossed the paper back into the hat before grabbing a disk from the box under his table and putting it into the stereo.

"I hope you all like some slow dancing, because that's what we've got for the night!"

Glynda's eyes went wide as a soft and moving melody began to float from the speakers. A few of the patrons awkwardly laughed before heading off of the dance floor, while others merely grabbed the person near and began to dance, giggling all the way. Glynda was thinking of joining the former group, until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist, and looked down to see Neo looking back up, smiling softly.

 _Well…it would be rude to refuse a dance, after all._

Unsure if it was the alcohol talking or her, Glynda wrapped her arms around Neo and held her close, going for the traditional "High School Prom" slow dance. She could only imagine how comical they probably looked to the other dancers, with her towering over Neo by a good foot and a half, and she did hear a few people chuckle.

But she didn't care what anyone might think. Glynda was, in all honesty, enjoying her dance. The soft sounds of an old Frank Sinatra song, the now-wearing off buzz of the alcohol, and most of all, the pleasant smile on Neo's face more than put Glynda's mind at ease. Strangely enough, she felt comfortable dropping her professional front with Neo. Looking into her eyes, Glynda felt her heart beat quicker, and her stomach felt much, much lighter.

 _She makes me feel so…free._

Neo, for her part, merely smiled and stood on her tip-toes, though she still couldn't reach Glynda. She pouted, and Glynda gave her a curious look before Neo made a kissy face. She couldn't help but giggle at how cute Neo looked, though her mirth quickly turned into a full blush when she felt Neo's hands move from the middle of her back to her behind.

 _That's a rather direct way of getting your intentions across._

Neo smirked before again making a kissy face, and Glynda smiled before leaning forward and taking Neo's lips for her own. The kiss was soft, tender, and when Glynda leaned back from the kiss, Neo's face had taken a bit of a red tint. Glynda couldn't help but chuckle, before leaning into Neo's ear, her breath causing the girl to shiver slightly.

"I might just have a gift for you back at my apartment~"

* * *

 **AN: Privyet! General Katyusha here! I hope you all liked this little one-shot here. It might not be another chapter of Black Lilies, but I've been trying to do something to get my motivation back after taking a hard smash from the change of seasons, so here's a little something to whet the appetite perhaps?**

 **Of course, tell me how you liked (or didn't like) it! This was General Katyusha, signing off!**


End file.
